bobby

This thread welcomes Mathieu Carle... The underdog Rouyn-Noranda Huskies exceeded expectations by winning two playoff rounds, but they came up empty agains Jonathan Bernier and the Lewiston Mainiacs. Mathieu was good in the final game by the looks of it, he had two points on just 3 R-N goals in the game and led the team with 6 shots. Overall he finishes with 16 points in 16 games in the post season, the third or fourth highest scoring defenseman for the playoffs. I never get a chance to watch Carle play, but I am encouraged that he seemed to bounce back from a mid season slump and the trade that brought him to the Huskies. I'm also encouraged by the way some of his fellow defense prospects from the Q have performed, especially M-E Vlasic in San Jose. Kris Letang, Luc Bourdon, Sebastien Bisaillon, Keith Yandle, are other Q defenders who have played in the NHL at 19 or (barely) 20 years of age. Carle is very similar to these players in style and accomplishment. He was rated ahead of all of them except Bourdon coming into junior. Barely having seen him play, I like the fact that he led most of the skills tests at the Prospects Game among defensemen. He was the overall best skater there among defensemen and had one of the hardest shots as well. His passing and offensive sense seem top rate, and are the two qualities most often remarked upon in any assessment of him. Size is not an asset necessarily, but it should not be an issue, either. At 6-0 or 6-1, he has the naturally stocky build to play at around 225 or 230 pounds. So, what's not to like?....

Actually it is a translation of an interview for Soviet Sport. As translated and reported by Radio Canada. Not the same interview that caused all the fuss back when, but essentially he says the same things. Whining about his ice time and the way he was used. I heard that "Kovalev" is the Russian word for "Ropeadope", can anyone confirm that? His possum act caught up to him this season, he was crap right to the bitter end when he probably cost the team their playoff spot with that half assed bonehead play against the Leafs at the end of the second period in the final game. As much as I despised Brisebois, I think that Kovalev will go down and my least favorite Canadien of all time.

Kovalev gave an interview with one of the local French players in which he said that he doesn't want to come back unless there are changes on the team. Don't let the DOOR HIT YOUR ASS, ALEX!!!

Interesting detail from NHL.com article on the ranking process. The final candidates for top N.A. pick were the top ranked prospect in each league. Turris (Tier II), Kane (OHL), Voracek (Q), Ellerby (WHL), Sweatt (NCAA), Pacioretty (USHL), McDonagh (HSW), Cross (HSE) and a couple of others who don't count. SOOOO much depends on rating the leagues against each other, since it is relatively easier to rank players within a league. That is where the steals and bust come in, I think, when mistakes are made in comparing leagues (especially when you have to factor in the Euros to the final equation). Personally I think that the USHL is probably on par with the Q, at least, and possibly the OHL as of now. There were actually MORE USHL prospects on a per team basis in the final rankings than any of the Canadian junior leagues. The other wild card is the NCAA, where there are only a handful of prospects. In my eyes they aren't giving the top NCAA prospect Bill Sweatt his due. He should be much closer to the top prospects from the CHL circuits.

Excellant article at NHL.com about the process the scouts go through to come up with their final rankings. It takes them a week locked together in the same room to work it all out. Some good comments from McGuire the Head of NHL Scouting on this years draft as well.

Yeah, Carle has been 6th or 7th in playing time per game among Shark defensemen both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He averaged 18 minutes per game in the regular season which was about identical to Gorges, and has averaged just over 15 minutes per game in the playoffs in comparison to over 26 minutes for Rivet.

Ask any Shark fan if they think that Carle is good defensively. As for "playing him in all situations", he has only been averaging around 16 minutes per game lately, so I don't see how that can be the case. Pretty sure Josh Gorges averaged more playing time per game in S.J. than Carle did. They are similar in a lot of ways, size, age, style, etc., but Gorges has been concentrating on being a good defensive player while Carle was used mainly in offensive situations.

I think a combination of being one of the youngest players with the NTDP while he was there (even though he finished second to Pat Kane in scoring last season), the off season of CC this year, and the fact that he missed a chunk of the season due to injury and WJC play have left Sweatt ranked lower than he deserves.

I think one player who is really slipping between the cracks is Bill Sweatt of Colorado College. At the very least he is going to be a good penalty killer and defensive forward, plus I think he has terrific offensive upside. He has mainly been cast in a defensive role due to his skating, but his numbers as a WCHA freshman were on par with Phil Kessel of a year ago if you adjust for the amount their respective teams scored. Sweatt had the identical % of his team's points as Kessel did last year. Billy had a better average within the conference where the toughest competition was. Sweatt is smarter and has less character issues than Kessel did as well.

Kyle Turris moves to the top of the CSS list... B)

There are some variable there. Last year they had an offer for the #16 pick (1100 points value) from S.J. for their first (#20) and third (#83) which total 1120 points. But the Habs shopped around and got a better offer, so the Sharks upped their offer to a first and a second (#53). In the other draft pick deal, Montreal traded their picks at #79 and #109 to move up to #66 for Ryan White. That deal was almost exactly even as far as the draft value chart was concerned. I think Mtl gave 1 extra point or something out of about 500.

As it sits according to the Draft Value Chart, Habs would need to package their two first rounders plus their second round pick to move to #3 overall. Two first round picks would get them to #4. Their own first and second picks to #5. S.J. first and their second to #7 overall.

Vlasic is O.K. defensively, but Carle? The guy is awful in his own zone, pretty much a PPQB and not much else. I don't think you watched the Sharks play if you feel that Carle, or even Vlasic, is a shut down defender.

Rivet has averaged more playing time than any other Shark defenseman since he landed there. That makes him their #1 defenseman. I think the actions of the coaching staff speak a lot louder than the words of a fan.

Not to say that Kane and Gagner aren't very good young players, but the London situation, plus the fact that they are both right handed, smallish, offensive players which Montreal has an excess of, makes them less attractive.

Kane and Gagner benefit from the same unique situation that S. Kostitsyn does. Rob Schremp, David Bolland, and Dylan Hunter put up the same sort on numbers in London a year ago, and they have just been average in the AHL. None of them is among the top rookie scorers, and as I mentioned, WHL grads who could hardly manage a point per game in their final junior season are ahead of them offensively.

Ellerby seems much more likely to be questionable due to attitude. His coach in Kamloops recently kicked him off the team for selfish ("I want to be a high first round draft pick") play. He also ran afoul of the WHL by making a throat slashing gesture at a Vancouver Giant player not long ago. There are a series of similarly immature incidents in Ellerby's past. He is one of the older player available but probably one of the least mature. I would be leery of Ellerby and Colton Gillies who have terrific tools but aren't very smart. Those are the players who flop, usually. Logan Couture is another, but the scouts seem to be onto Gillies and Couture now and they are down the draft rankings. I's surprised they have Ellerby so high still.

That "attitude" stuff comes from Goodgrief the Mullett. Which makes it essentially useless information. I haven't seen any other credible evidence of Cherepanov having any problems in that regard. He is a really bright kid who came from a small town in Siberia, I believe, and worked his way onto one of the best teams in the RSL. He already speaks pretty good English. You just don't manage to accomplish those things by the age of 18 if you have an "attitude problem". Maybe Goodgrief is being paid by some NHL team to dispense the slander because they want to draft Cherepanov at a lower position than his talent warrants. Or maybe some scout slipped him disinformation for the same reason and he ran with it.

1. chicago....

Myeeh....there are a handful of former WHL "grinders" like Troy Brouwer, Clarke MacArthur, Dustin Boyd, Kris Versteeg, Dane Byers, etc. who are producing as well or better than A. Kostitsyn and Grabovski in the AHL. Juniors who barely averaged a point per game, if that. S. Kostitsyn's big numbers come from playing 40 minutes per game with Pat Kane and Sam Gagner. 7th round pick David Meckler is outscoring him in the playoffs with less playing time. The Belarussians are seriously overrated by the fans, but not so much so by Guy Carbonneau or Bob Gainey, I don't think.

I can't see Souray returning to Montreal after seeing what happened for Craig Rivet when he went to the West Coast. Not even if the Habs offer more money than anyone else.

I would trade up for Kyle Turris, James Van Reimsdyck, or Alex Cherepanov, no one else. The USHL players are moving up in the CSS rankings, Pacioretty, Petrecki, Cohen, all in the top 25 now. Ryan McDonagh and Tommy Cross barely out of the top 10. I don't think they will go that high though. Some of the glitter must be off the high schoolers by now. Players like Logan Couture, Colton Gillies, Alex Plante, Zach Torquato rated as second to fourth round picks. . There must be some depth, at least, in this draft. If I was Bob (instead of bobby ), I would deal the Kostitsyn brothers and Grabovski for a top 2 or 3 pick. Clean out the system a bit and get their hands on a potential star. Andrei and Sergei are dogging it because they just want to go home. Grabovski injures himself with some dressing room stupidity. Send the Mulletts elsewhere while they still have value.

CSS rankings out - N.A. Skaters - 1. Kyle Turris, 2. Patrick Kane, 3. James Van Reimsdyck, 4. Keaton Ellerby, 5. Karl Alzner, 6. Sam Gagner, 7. Jakub Voracek, 8. Angelo Esposito, 9. Zach Hamill, 10. David Perron. Euros - 1. Alexei Cherepanov, 2. Michael Backlund.

Goodgrief the Bad Mullett has the attention span of a grasshopper. He judges players by thier last shift, never mind their last game or tournament. I don't think he spends 1/4 the time you do actually watching prospects play. I doubt that he pays anyone else to watch them either. Maybe covers their bus fare and arena coffee.

Max Pacioretty on the Top Rookie award in the USHL. Nick Petrecki and Colby Cohen were named to the second All Star team.